Archive for the ‘Sefer ha-Bahir’ Category

In the Book of Esther, the villain, Haman, is the minster of the King of Persia which is today called Iran. Here we see that the rabbis identify Haman as a direct descendant of Amalek, the tribe which the rabbis preach must be exterminated before the Judaic “redemption” can take place.

Shabbat Zakhor: (Heb. rvkz TYQ; “Sabbath of Remembrance”), the second of the four special Sabbaths. It is the Sabbath before Purim. The name derives from the additional Torah portion read from Deuteronomy 25:17–19 whose theme is the duty “to remember” what Amalek did to Israel. The traditional belief is that Haman the Agagite was a direct descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekites (e.g., I Sam. 15:9ff.). (Encyclopedia Judaica, “Sabbaths, Special”)

The above mentioned Shabbat Zakhor is the Judaic Sabbath that falls before Purim. It is mandatory for all Orthodox Judaics to hear the reading of the Parshat Zachor on this day each year when they are reminded to make war against “Amalek,” directly connected with Haman, for eternity:

“… the Sages have prescribed the public reading of [Parshat Zachor] once every year, on the Shabbat which precedes Purim – so that the ‘wiping-out’ of Amalek might be adjacent to the ‘wiping-out’ of Haman, the latter being a descendant of Amalek.”http://www.ou.org/chagim/fourshabbatot/zachor.htm

In the last blog entry it was shown that Amalek was actually completely eradicated 500 years before Christ (1st Chronicles 4;43) by the true Israelites but that the rabbis have throughout history falsely labeled individuals and groups as “Amalek” and subject to extermination. The rabbinic doctrine of reincarnation (gilgul) was also briefly mentioned.

… metempsychosis [reincarnation] is taken for granted in the Kabbalah from its first literary expression in the Sefer ha-Bahir (published in late 12th century) … From the period of the Zohar on, the term gilgul became prevalent in Hebrew literature and began to appear in philosophic works as well. (Encyclopedia Judaica, “Gilgul”)

Let’s look at a few recent examples of Judaic attempts to conflate the current President of Iran with Haman from the Book of Esther:

“There’s more than passing irony in the fact that the most infamous anti-Semite of antiquity, the hater whose downfall Jews celebrate on Purim, was a prominent official of an empire centered in what’s now Iran.

There is no end to the amount of homilies that rabbis will spin out of the story of Purim. Pending what’s in the New York Times that week, Vashti, Esther and Mordechai all become transformed into real-life characters. Usually this sermonic game ends up with someone asking, “So, rabbi, who is today’s Haman?” Usually this crude question engenders an equally crude but far more dangerous political answer. God knows how many people have been labeled Haman who, in other contexts, would be seen as a Mordechai. Rarely do we actually have a real breathing Haman standing right before our eyes.

And here we see an Israeli comic which openly depicts Ahmadinejad as the reincarnation of Haman and suggests that “the civilized world” has a responsibility to destroy him.

Yup. Ahmadinejad, the modern reincarnation of Haman of Persia is both a test for the civilized world and a trial for Israel. The future is looking more and more like the past. As the old curse goes: “May you live in interesting times!”

In the Book of Esther, the villain, Haman, is the minster of the King of Persia which is today called Iran. Here we see that the rabbis identify Haman as a direct descendant of Amalek, the tribe which the rabbis preach must be exterminated before the Judaic “redemption” can take place.

Shabbat Zakhor: (Heb. rvkz TYQ; “Sabbath of Remembrance”), the second of the four special Sabbaths. It is the Sabbath before Purim. The name derives from the additional Torah portion read from Deuteronomy 25:17–19 whose theme is the duty “to remember” what Amalek did to Israel. The traditional belief is that Haman the Agagite was a direct descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekites (e.g., I Sam. 15:9ff.). (Encyclopedia Judaica, “Sabbaths, Special”)

The above mentioned Shabbat Zakhor is the Judaic Sabbath that falls before Purim. It is mandatory for all Orthodox Judaics to hear the reading of the Parshat Zachor on this day each year when they are reminded to make war against “Amalek,” directly connected with Haman, for eternity:

“… the Sages have prescribed the public reading of [Parshat Zachor] once every year, on the Shabbat which precedes Purim – so that the ‘wiping-out’ of Amalek might be adjacent to the ‘wiping-out’ of Haman, the latter being a descendant of Amalek.”http://www.ou.org/chagim/fourshabbatot/zachor.htm

In the last blog entry it was shown that Amalek was actually completely eradicated 500 years before Christ (1st Chronicles 4;43) by the true Israelites but that the rabbis have throughout history falsely labeled individuals and groups as “Amalek” and subject to extermination. The rabbinic doctrine of reincarnation (gilgul) was also briefly mentioned.

… metempsychosis [reincarnation] is taken for granted in the Kabbalah from its first literary expression in the Sefer ha-Bahir (published in late 12th century) … From the period of the Zohar on, the term gilgul became prevalent in Hebrew literature and began to appear in philosophic works as well. (Encyclopedia Judaica, “Gilgul”)

Let’s look at a few recent examples of Judaic attempts to conflate the current President of Iran with Haman from the Book of Esther:

“There’s more than passing irony in the fact that the most infamous anti-Semite of antiquity, the hater whose downfall Jews celebrate on Purim, was a prominent official of an empire centered in what’s now Iran.

There is no end to the amount of homilies that rabbis will spin out of the story of Purim. Pending what’s in the New York Times that week, Vashti, Esther and Mordechai all become transformed into real-life characters. Usually this sermonic game ends up with someone asking, “So, rabbi, who is today’s Haman?” Usually this crude question engenders an equally crude but far more dangerous political answer. God knows how many people have been labeled Haman who, in other contexts, would be seen as a Mordechai. Rarely do we actually have a real breathing Haman standing right before our eyes.

And here we see an Israeli comic which openly depicts Ahmadinejad as the reincarnation of Haman and suggests that “the civilized world” has a responsibility to destroy him.

Yup. Ahmadinejad, the modern reincarnation of Haman of Persia is both a test for the civilized world and a trial for Israel. The future is looking more and more like the past. As the old curse goes: “May you live in interesting times!”

In the Book of Esther, the villain, Haman, is the minster of the King of Persia which is today called Iran. Here we see that the rabbis identify Haman as a direct descendant of Amalek, the tribe which the rabbis preach must be exterminated before the Judaic “redemption” can take place.

Shabbat Zakhor: (Heb. rvkz TYQ; “Sabbath of Remembrance”), the second of the four special Sabbaths. It is the Sabbath before Purim. The name derives from the additional Torah portion read from Deuteronomy 25:17–19 whose theme is the duty “to remember” what Amalek did to Israel. The traditional belief is that Haman the Agagite was a direct descendant of Agag, the king of the Amalekites (e.g., I Sam. 15:9ff.). (Encyclopedia Judaica, “Sabbaths, Special”)

The above mentioned Shabbat Zakhor is the Judaic Sabbath that falls before Purim. It is mandatory for all Orthodox Judaics to hear the reading of the Parshat Zachor on this day each year when they are reminded to make war against “Amalek,” directly connected with Haman, for eternity:

“… the Sages have prescribed the public reading of [Parshat Zachor] once every year, on the Shabbat which precedes Purim – so that the ‘wiping-out’ of Amalek might be adjacent to the ‘wiping-out’ of Haman, the latter being a descendant of Amalek.”http://www.ou.org/chagim/fourshabbatot/zachor.htm

In the last blog entry it was shown that Amalek was actually completely eradicated 500 years before Christ (1st Chronicles 4;43) by the true Israelites but that the rabbis have throughout history falsely labeled individuals and groups as “Amalek” and subject to extermination. The rabbinic doctrine of reincarnation (gilgul) was also briefly mentioned.

… metempsychosis [reincarnation] is taken for granted in the Kabbalah from its first literary expression in the Sefer ha-Bahir (published in late 12th century) … From the period of the Zohar on, the term gilgul became prevalent in Hebrew literature and began to appear in philosophic works as well. (Encyclopedia Judaica, “Gilgul”)

Let’s look at a few recent examples of Judaic attempts to conflate the current President of Iran with Haman from the Book of Esther:

“There’s more than passing irony in the fact that the most infamous anti-Semite of antiquity, the hater whose downfall Jews celebrate on Purim, was a prominent official of an empire centered in what’s now Iran.

There is no end to the amount of homilies that rabbis will spin out of the story of Purim. Pending what’s in the New York Times that week, Vashti, Esther and Mordechai all become transformed into real-life characters. Usually this sermonic game ends up with someone asking, “So, rabbi, who is today’s Haman?” Usually this crude question engenders an equally crude but far more dangerous political answer. God knows how many people have been labeled Haman who, in other contexts, would be seen as a Mordechai. Rarely do we actually have a real breathing Haman standing right before our eyes.

And here we see an Israeli comic which openly depicts Ahmadinejad as the reincarnation of Haman and suggests that “the civilized world” has a responsibility to destroy him.

Yup. Ahmadinejad, the modern reincarnation of Haman of Persia is both a test for the civilized world and a trial for Israel. The future is looking more and more like the past. As the old curse goes: “May you live in interesting times!”